BY: SUN STAFF
Apr 8, CANADA (SUN) —
Bhagavat Sandarbha
by Srila Jiva Goswami
SECTION SIXTY-ONE
Vaikuntha is Part of the Lord's Svarupa.
Although in verses like (SB.2.9.9), "He showed His own planet, Vaikuntha", it is established that the Lord's abode is also part of His essential nature, yet for the sake of the less intelligent, we will again prove it.
Because the Lord's abode cannot be attained by fruitive activities; the Vedas describe it as transcendental to the material world; it is glorified for the quality that those who attain it have the infallible nature; Vaikuntha is glorified for the nature that those who have attained it, have the nature not to fall down, it is attained only when one is free from the modes of material nature; even the temples of the Lord in this world are transcendental to the modes, because of the association of the Deity form of the Lord. Thus certainly the Vaikuntha planet is to be understood as beyond the modes of material nature; The scriptures directly describe that it is beyond material nature; they declare it eternal; it is attained only by pure devotion, which belittles even the bliss of liberation; it is called saccidananda-ghana or having the form of eternal bliss and knowledge. Out of these its quality of non-attainability by fruitive activities is stated by Lord Krishna as follows (11.24.12-14):
"Heaven was established as the residence of the demigods, Bhuvarloka as that of ghostly spirits, and the Earth system as the place of human beings and other mortal creatures. Those mystics who strive for liberation are promoted beyond these three divisions. Lord Brahma created the region below the Earth for the demons and the Naga snakes. In this way the destinations of the three worlds were arranged as the corresponding reactions for different kinds of work performed within the three modes of nature. By mystic yoga, great austerities, and the renounced order of life, the pure destinations of Maharloka, Janaloka, Tapoloka, and Satyaloka are attained, but by devotional yoga, one achieves My transcendental abode."
The perfected beings by the process such as yoga attain the planets Mahar and above, which are beyond the three planetary systems, tritayat param. Below earth means the planets like Atala. The three planetary systems includes planets beginning with Patala and also Bhuh, Bhuvar, and Svah. Karmanam means those who follow the principles of household life. Tapa refers to principles of vanaprastha life and also the order of brahmacarya. Out of these by following the two types of brahmacarya i.e. upakurvana and naishthika, one attains to Mahar and Janalokas respectively. The followers of the Vanaprastha order reach Tapaloka and of the sannyasa order to Satya-loka. But one can attain any of these planets according to different levels of advancement in Yoga. Madgatih (lit. My destination) means Sri Vaikuntha loka and is reached only by bhakti-yoga, as substantiated by the verse yanna vrajanti (SB.3.15.23), which will be quoted later on, and also by this present description of the planets.
In the Third Canto, Lord Brahma said to the demigods (3.15.20):
"Vaikuntha is crowded with airplanes which are attained by the devotees as a result of merely bowing down at the feet of the Lord."
Sridhara Swami also comments: Again he distinguishes the Vaikuntha. Tatsankulam means crowded by them. By what? By the airplanes of the devotees, which they attained by simply offering obeisances to Lord Hari's lotus feet, and not attained by processes such as fruitive work. This is the end of his comment.
The Sruti also confirms this (Mundaka Upanisad 1.2.12), "A learned brahmana becomes indifferent after he has crossed the planets attainable by karma. The Vaikuntha planet, akrita, cannot be achieved by work, krita." In this mantra, akrita qualifies "Vaikuntha planet" and not anything else as this is the subject under discussion.
And Lord Krsna says in Bhagavadupanishad, beginning with (18.61), "I am the Supersoul in everyone's heart" and then (18.62): "O scion of Bharata, surrender unto Him utterly. By His grace you will attain transcendental peace and the supreme and eternal abode."
COMMENTARY
After proving that the body, dress, weapons, and ornaments of the Lord are part of His svarupa, Sri Jiva Gosvami demonstrates that the same applies for Vaikuntha. Section Ten briefly touched on this point with reference to Brahma's vision of Lord Krishna, and proves that Vaikuntha is free from Maya and her by-products. Because Maya and the modes are absent in Vaikuntha, time has no influence. Vaikuntha is a manifestation of the transcendental mode of goodness--suddha-satvamayam divyamanantam brahmanah padam (Padma Purana, Uttarakhanda 227.58). Section Ten also states that pure goodness is not material goodness free from passion and ignorance, but it is the Lord's internal energy.
While Srila Jiva Gosvami discusses the transcendental nature of Vaikuntha incidentally in Section Ten, he now focuses his attention on this topic for the next twelve Sections. He lists ten characteristics of Vaikuntha: 1.) It is not attainable by fruitive activities; 2.) It is beyond the material world; 3.) Its residents are infallible 4.) Only a person free from the modes of material nature can attain it; 5.) It is free from the modes of nature; 6.) It is transcendental to material nature; 7.) It is eternal; 8.) It defeats the bliss of liberation; 9.) It is only attainable through bhakti; 10.) It is sat-cit-ananda in nature. He points out these ten characteristics one by one in the upcoming twelve Sections including this one. In this way he proves that Vaikuntha is not a manifestation of the external energy, but belongs to the Lord's svarupa.
In this Text Jiva Gosvami explains that Vaikuntha cannot be attained by any endeavor other than by devotional service.
All actions are performed with the body or speech and directly or indirectly aim to achieve some object. The karana-guna-prakrama-nyaya explains every effect of action must reflect the quality of its cause. Thus the result of all material action is material. After death a person attains a destination befitting the karma accrued in his past lives. The formula is given by Lord Krishna in Bhagavad-gita (14.18,19):
"Those situated in the mode of goodness gradually go upward to the higher planets; those in the mode of passion live on the earthly planets; and those in the abominable mode of ignorance to down to the hellish worlds."
"When one properly sees that in all activities no other performer is at work than these modes of nature and he knows the Supreme Lord, who is transcendental to all the modes, he attains My spiritual nature."
Krishna explains this in detail in Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.24.12-14). The word siddha here means those who have attained mystic powers like anima. It does not mean the spiritually perfect beings. Analysis of these verses clearly proves that every planet except for the abode of the Lord, is attained by karma, austerity, or yoga. Karma, yoga, austerities, and renunciation are endeavors tainted by the modes of material nature and lead to different positions in the material world. Vaikuntha, however, is attained by transcendental devotional service. Although devotional service appears to be a physical activity, it is not material. Section Forty-six proves that chanting the Lord's name is not material, though done with the tongue like ordinary speech. That devotional service is not material action will be discussed at greater length in Bhakti Sandarbha.
Karma refers to those who follow the rules of householder life. It does not refer to simply married life but to those who perform panca mahayajna according to smriti injunctions. Tapas which means austerity refers to those who follow the rules of Vanprastha or Brahmacarya. In both of these asramas, austerity is very predominant activity. Brahmacari does not mean a unmarried person or celibate. Brahma means Veda and one who studies Vedas under a guru following the principles of student life described in the Puranas and Smritis is called a Brahmacari. There are two types of Brahmacaris. Lord Kurma describes them as follows (Kurma Purana 2.77,78):
"A student who properly studies the Vedas, remaining fixed in the Absolute Reality until the end of his life, is called a naishthika brahmacari. A student who enters householder life after completing his studies is called upakurvana brahmacari." Nyasa refers to the renounced order of life, sannyasa. None of these people can achieveVaikuntha planets because their activities are under the modes of nature.
Suta Gosvami confirms that the Lord's abode cannot be attained by karma and only devotees reach there (S.B.12.6.31,32):
"Created material products, their subtle causes and the goals of enjoyment attained by their utilization do not exist there. Furthermore, in that supreme reality there is no conditioned spirit, covered by false ego and the three modes of nature. That reality excludes everything limited of limiting. One who is wise should therefore stop the waves of material life and enjoy within that Supreme Truth."
"Those who desire to give up all that is not essentially real move systematically, by negative discrimination of the extraneous, to the supreme position of Lord Vishnu. Giving up petty materialism, they offer their love exclusively to the Absolute Truth within their hearts and embrace that highest truth in fixed meditation."
The yanna vrajanti verse (S.B.3.15.23) will be discussed in Text 68. In this verse Brahma explains that materialistic people cannot reach Vaikuntha. Brahma, by saying that Vaikuntha is crowded with aeroplanes which the devotees have attained merely by offering obeisances to Lord, is indicating that Vaikuntha is beyond karma. Offering obeisances in this verse (3.15.20) is an indicative of all other processes of devotional service. the word matra, only that much, means that bhakti is not mixed or supported by any other process such as jnana or karma.
This is further confirmed in the Mundaka Upanishad. Here the word akrita or that which is not attained by karma qualifies the Vaikuntha planet. This is understood from the subject being discussed in this section of the Upanishad. The other planets have been called karmajita or attained by karma. In some editions the word parikshya (after inspecting) is used in place of paritya. Then the meaning will be that a learned Brahmana after studying the various planets which can be obtained by karma looses interest in them. He realizes that Vaikuntha is beyond karma. to understand Vaikuntha he approaches a bonafide guruas the following mantra says--tam vijnanartham sa gurumevabhigaccheta samitpani srotriyam brahma-nishtham. The only process to attain the Lord or His Abode is by the mercy of the Lord and His devotees. Jada Bharata confirmed this while instructing King Rahugana (S.B.5.12.12):
"My dear King Rahugana, unless one has the opportunity to smear his entire body with the dust of the lotus feet of great devotees, one cannot realize the Absolute Truth. One cannot realize the Absolute Truth simply by observing celibacy (brahmacarya), strictly following the rules of householder life, leaving home as a vanaprastha, accepting sannyasa, or undergoing severe penance in winter by keeping oneself submerged in water or surrounding oneself in summer by fire and the scorching heat of the sun. There are many other processes to understand the Absolute Truth, but the Absolute Truth is revealed to one who has attained the mercy of a great devotee."
In section 58 it was shown that Lord's body is not the fourfold result of any activity. The same analysis can also be applied ot the abode of the Lord. Eternal, self effulgent objects cannot be achieved by any material endeavor. Therefore Lord Krishna advises Arjuna (Bg.18.62) that one will attain the eternal abode, Vaikuntha only by surrendering unto Him.
Go to Section Sixty-two
Return to Section Sixty-one
